Invited Speaker - B. M. Azizur Rahman

Characterization of a New Generation of Optical Sensors

Synopsis

The design and optimization of a suite of novel optical sensors will be presented, showing the value of using rigorous full-vectorial numerical approaches. Although fibre based optical sensors are well established in the market, designs based on more exotic nanowires and photonic crystal fibres are becoming increasingly important and showing much improved sensitivity by accessing a larger evanescent field. Similarly, novel planar design concept, such as the silicon slot guide-based design which is showing even greater promise, allowing the exploitation of well-developed CMOS fabrication technologies for potentially low-cost sensor elements. Optical sensors using more innovative planar designs will be more compact, integrated with added functionalities which can be mass produced for potentially lower per unit cost. However, the design concept and analyses of such exotic sensors are also very challenging. Some selected results illustrating the value and potential of the numerically efficient finite element method in systems design will be presented.

Speaker Biography

B. M. Azizur Rahman received the B.Sc.Eng and M.Sc.Eng. degrees in Electrical Engineering with distinctions from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1976 and 1979, respectively. He also received two gold medals for being the best undergraduate and graduate student of the university in 1976 and 1979, respectively. In 1979, he was awarded with a Commonwealth Scholarship to study for a PhD degree in the UK and subsequently in 1982 received his PhD degree in Electronics from University College London.

In 1988, he joined City University, London, as a lecturer, where he is now a Professor. At City University, he leads the research group on Photonics Modelling, specialised in the use of rigorous and full-vectorial numerical approaches to design, analyse and optimise a wide range of photonic devices, such as spot-size converters, high-speed optical modulators, compact bend designs, power splitters, polarisation splitters, polarisation rotators, polarization controllers, terahertz devices, etc. He has published more than 450 journal and conference papers, and his journal papers have been cited more than 2900 times, with an h-index value of 27. Prof. Rahman is Fellow of both the Optical Society of America, and the SPIE and a Senior Member of IEEE (USA).